Social bookmarking is a free and easy way to help
to help promote your online or off line business.
The basic idea of social bookmarks is you join a
social bookmarking service and share your
bookmarks with other members. Naturally the first
site you will want to bookmark would be your
business web site.
Most social bookmarking services are free and all
that is required is an ID, password, and email
address. Once you’ve signed up with the
bookmarking service you will want to set up your
profile page for the service and add important
information for your business such as your web
address. A very important part of social
bookmarking is when you bookmark or
‘favorite’ a web site you will be asked
to add keywords or tags.
Keywords are words that correspond to your
business or product. These are words that someone
looking for your type of business would type into
a search engine such as Yahoo and Google. When
bookmarking your site and adding keywords related
to your business you will be connected by those
keywords to other similar businesses.
You don’t want to stop with just your
business web site though. As you visit other
sites online you will want to bookmark other
sites such as web sites of businesses that
provide materials used in your business or
equipment you may use. Just like when you
bookmarked your business web site you will want
to add keywords or tags to the site.
Del.icio.us (pronounced delicious) is one free to
join social bookmarking service. Once you join
Del.icio.us you will be directed to install two
buttons on your Internet browser. This social
bookmarking site has become one of the most
popular because it’s so easy to use. Once
the buttons are installed on your browser you
simply login and then surf the net. When you see
a site that pertains to your business just click
the button, add a keyword or two and that site is
added to your bookmarks.
Furl is another very popular bookmarking site.
Furl works very much the same as Del.icio.us with
one button to install and works with all the
popular browsers such as Internet Explorer,
Firefox, and Netscape. Where the networking
really comes in is when other people find your
bookmarks and decide to network with you –
this means they like your bookmarks and want to
keep track of any new sites you may find. You
will do the same also – find other people
who have bookmarked several sites of interest to
you and your network starts to grow.
By being professional about your bookmarks,
adding comments along with well chosen tags
others will start to recognize you as an expert
of sorts in your business field and you will find
through your bookmarks you will start networking
and sharing tips, products, and other things that
pertain to your particular business.
If you would like to take social bookmarking a
step further you may be interested in a service
called Squidoo. Squidoo was started in 2005 and
is a great place for business people to share
their expertise. How the site works is you sign
up for free and then share your knowledge on
topics pertaining to your business. You share by
writing what is called Lens on Squidoo and these
Lens are available for others to read. By sharing
your knowledge others will want to be associated
with you, will recommend you to others, and all
the time will be adding to your business
promotion. Squidoo also have groups where you can
join together with others with similar business
interests thus building a network.
Social bookmarking is one of the easiest ways to
promote your business online without having to
spend money on advertising. Yes, it may take a
little bit of your time but it can be well worth
your efforts particularly if you are a small
business owner with a limited advertising budget.
Faith Wright-Draper (aka
byfaithonly) has been writing for over 40
years as a journalist, ghostwriter, and
freelancer. She currently writes for
several blogs, freelances, and writes on
her own website www.byfaithonly.com